Vietnam Snipers

Me and my brother were having a discussion the other day about army issue sniper rifles. we had an argument about what rifle americans sniped with in Vietnam.. I thought winchester model 70, he was thinking Remington 700.

More specifically, what the famed Carlos Hathcock used i his ventures.

__________________“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.” ― Samuel Adams

Carlos, and his instructor/mentor Chuck Mawhinney, used off the shelf Winchester Model 70's in .30-06

The Remington 700 was not introduced until later in the "war" and was a long action with a .308 caliber round that was not loved by those on the ground that had already fielded the superior range and power of the .30-06 cartridge.

M16a1, springfield 1903a4, m1c garand, m1d garand, m14, mod 700, mod 70, m2 browning were all used to some extent or other. there was no "official" sniper weapon until late in the vietnam conflict. the reason for this was sniping was abandoned at the end of ww2 then re-instated for korea and abandoned again the finally fully adopted as a core military mos and discipline in the 70's.

sniper recruitment was pretty much "hey this guy looks like he can shoot give him a scope!!"

pretty much anything that could be scoped was drafted into sniping duty. there was no official sniper rifle until the mod 700 was adopted

there were a LOT more snipers than just hathcock and the 4 or 5 that are well known.

__________________
"Gun control: The theory that a woman found dead in an alley, raped and strangled with her panty hose, is somehow morally superior to a woman explaining to police how her attacker got that fatal bullet wound." — L. Neil Smith

The problem with being stupid is you cannot simply decide to stop doing dumb things...

there were a LOT more snipers than just hathcock and the 4 or 5 that are well known.

When I was in Vietnam I didn't see nearly as many snipers as
there are on these forums. Most of the snipers I saw were on the other
side. As a matter of fact, I was nearly a statistic. I still walk with a limp.

I have heard that story before how Hathcock mounted a scope on a Ma Deuce and used it as a sniper rifle. To say that i am sceptical of such a thing would be the understatement of the year. I would REALLY like to see some evidence of that.